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Library grant will buy more computers

The Mesa County Regional Library District is one of 76 statewide that will share in a $2.3 million grant from the American Recovery Act.

The grant, awarded to the Colorado State Library system on Monday, is part of a larger $3.3 million effort to improve computer access for those who have none. The remaining money is from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in-kind donations, community organizations and some of the libraries themselves.

The money is to be used to purchase 692 laptop computers, 451 desktop computers and 69 computer stations that are accessible to people with disabilities.

Libraries were selected to be included in the grant program based on library-users’ poverty levels and ethnicity and current public computer access.

Other libraries in the region that also will be in the program include the Delta County Public Library District, the Montrose Regional Library District, the Nucla Public Library and the Gunnison County Public Library.